The prior art illustrates various storage racks which are constructed with various objectives in mind. Generally the provision of storage racks has the end goal of providing a maximum quantum of storage space utilizing a minimum of floor area and, with the foregoing in mind, it has been deemed advisable to construct storage racks which permit the vertical stacking of one rack on top of the other. Such a construction maximizes vertical storage of materials as opposed to spreading the storage of materials horizontally over a warehousing storage or area.
Certain racks are designed to handle different materials. Some storage racks are developed to handle cylindrical loads whereas others are specifically designed for the vertical storage of flat sheet materials. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,600 is specifically directed to a storage rack which accommodates large cylindrical loads while at the same time permitting the racks to be transported either by fork lift trucks or by other lifting equipment. Similarly other racks are constructed for convenient storage of larger flat sheet materials such as the rack depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,078. The storage rack depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,078 is constructed in a manner to permit the modulization of the component parts of the rack such that a rack of the size sufficient to accommodate only those materials to be stored may be cnstructed on the situs of the warehouse facility. With such a concept, the owner or operator does not require empty storage bins on the floor of the warehouse to take up valuable space when there are no materials to be stored.
A storage rack construction somewhat similar to the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,501. Such patent in addition to having a plurality of internestable racks further includes with each rack nesting means positioned at the top of each of the vertical support posts. The nesting means may be formed either by a nesting cup, or by tubular members. Each rack further includes mating nestable means which consist of either wedge plates in association with the nesting cups, or tubular rods in association with the tubular members, at least one pair of either the nesting wedge plates, or tubular members, being offset with respect to the opposed cross oriented support posts such that the racks, when stacked, are positioned in vertically offset orientation in order to achieve the internestable stacking thereof.
Other prior art U.S. patents showing stacking racks include the following: Nos. 2,801,752 to R. S. Jakubowski, dated Aug. 6, 1957; 3,195,735 to R. S. Jay, dated July 20, 1965; 3,476,260 to R. S. Jay, dated Nov. 4, 1969; 3,503,519 to R. S. Jay, dated Mar. 31, 1970; 3,565,018 to R. S. Jay, dated Feb. 23, 1971; 3,865,250 to R. S. Jay, dated Feb. 11, 1975; and the prior art cited therein.